Vehicle-wheel.



No. 760,285. PATBNTED MAY 17, 1904.. H. WATKINS &3 W; A. MENGE. VBHIGLEWHEEL APPLIOATION I'ILED MAB. 7. 1904.

-NO MQDEL.

Patentd May 17, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY WATKINS AND WILLIAM A. MENGE, OF UTICA, NEW' YORK.` i iVEHICLE-WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. *760,285, dated May1'7, 1904.

Application filed March 7, 190 1. Serial No. 196899. (Ne model;) i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HARRY WATKINS and WILLIAM A. MENGE, of Utica, inthe county of Oneda, in the State of New York, have in- Vented new anduseful Improvements in Vehicle-Wheels, of which the following, taken inconnection with the aeeompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to improvements in Vehicle-wheels, andrefers moreparticularly to double-tube pneumatic tires and to the means forclamping the tire to the felly or rim of the wheel. In this class ofwheels the tire is usually composed of an inner inflatable tube and an,outer tubular tread, which incloses the inner tube and is spliteireumferentially through its inner side, so that meeting edges may beSprung apart to permit the insertion and removal of the inner tube.

The object of our present inventi on is to provide a simple andpractical means for clamping the tire to the felly or rim of a wheel, sothat it may be readily and easily placed in operative position orremoved when desired.

Other objects and uses will appear in the following description.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of a wheel,showing the tire Secured to the felly. Fig. 2 is an enlarged seetionalview taken on line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is aninner face View of a portionof the outer tiresection. Fig. 4 is an outer face view of portions ofthe tire-gripping sections. Fig. 5 is a perspective View of one of theclamps for securiug one of the tire-gripping sections to the felly;

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all theviews.

The wheel eomprises, essentially, a felly 1, a metal band 2, outer 'andin'ner tubular tirescctions 3 and a, tire-gripping sections 5, andclamps or fastening members 6 for soeur-ing the gripping-seetions 5 tothe felly.

The felly 1 may be of any desired form or size; but it is preferablyformed of Wood and is provided with a series of transverse apertures 7at regular l'teYVEtlS throughout its circumference for receivingsuitable clamping-bolts 8, which secure the clamps 6 to the felly.

The metal band 2 encircles the periphery of i the felly, and although itis held in place by the clamps 6 it may be permanently seeured to thefelly by any other suitable fastening means to form a convenient anddurable seat for the gripping members 5. These gripping memberspreferably consist of separate annula' sheet-metal rings, which areseated and i posite side face of the felly and band and are rolled orbent outwardly and transversely toward each other to form annulargrooves ll in their adjacent faces to receive ribs 12 on the outertre-secton 3. v The apertures 10 are formed m the flat por.-

tions of the tire-gripping sections 5 and wher assembled are insubstantially the same planes as the opposite sides or faces of the felly 1 and band 2 and are disposed in radial lines from' the center of thewheel through the apertu'es e `7 in the fel'ly.

The outer tire-section 3 consists of a hollow rubber tube which is splitcireumferentially at 14 through its inner side, so th ts wi meetmg edgesmay be Sprung apart to mit the insertion and removal of theni g rinflatable tube a when desired,the` meeting edges of said tire-section 3being in a plane sub-` stantially eoineident with the meeting edges ofthe gripping-sections 5 when the ribs {12 are seated in the grooves 11,and'the inner face of this tire-seetion 3 is formed with a series ofrecesses 15, which are registered with the apertures 10 of thetire-grpping sections 5 and receive the outer ends of the elamps 6' v tohold the tire from circumferential movement relative to the felly.

The clamping members 6 preferably consist of cast-metal plates, whichare arranged in pairs against the side faces of the felly 1 and band 2,one pair for each of the apertures 7 in the felly, and those of eachpair are provided with suitable bolt-openings, which are registered withthe apertures 7 and receive the bolts 8. The outer ends of these clamps6 project beyond the periphery of the band 2 through the apertures 10and into the recesses 15 and are made to closely t in said apertures andrecesses, so as to hold the tire-gripping sections 5 and tire fromcircumferential or lateral displacement relative to the felly, saidouter ends being also ofset laterally asinwardly toward each other at 16and overhanging the adjacent portions of the tire-gripping members 5.The inner faces of these ofiset portions 16 are beveled at 17 and engagethe adjacent sides of the apertures 10 and also the periphery of thetire-gripping sections to draw said sections tightly against theperiphery of the band 2 when the bolts 8 are tightened, therebyestablishing a firm grip on the sections 5 and at the same time drawingsaid sections into closer engagement with the ribs of the tire-section3.

The edges of the band 2 may be recessed at intervals at 18 inregistration with the apertures 10 to receive the portions of the clamps6, which in such case operate to lock the band from circumferentialmovement on the felly.

In the operation of assembling the parts of the wheel the meeting-edgesof the outer tiresection are Sprung apart and the inner tube 4 insertedtherein, after which the whole tire is then placed around the band 2,which has been previously placed upon the felly. The gripping-sections 5are then placed in operative position from opposite sides of the tirewith their fiat portions inserted between and against the adjacent facesof the tire-section 3 and felly 1 until the flanges 9 are interlockedWith the ribs 12, at which time the meeting edgesof the sections 5closely approach each other. The oifset ends of the clamps 6 are theninserted through the apertures 10 and into the recesses 15, and thebolts 8 are then placed in position and drawn tightly by nuts 20,thereby completing the operation of assembling, it being understood thatthe clamps 6 are tilted inwardly when being inserted into the apertures10and before the sections 5 are brought to their operative positions.

In disassembling the parts the order of as sembling is simply reversed.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. In a vehicle-wheel, the combination with a felly, a tire encirclingthe felly, opposed tiregripping sections inserted between the tire andfelly from opposite sides and meeting near the transverse center of thefelly, and opposed clamps Secured to the felly and engaging saidgripping-sections. a i

2. In a vehicle-wheel, the combination with a felly, a hollow tire splitcircumferentially through its inner Wall and surrounding the fell y,tire-gripping sections inserted from opposite sides between the tire andfelly and meeting in line with the circumferential split of tire, andclamps Secured to the felly and engaging the gripping-sections to holdthem in place.

3. Ina vehiclewheeh the combination with a felly, a tire encircling thefelly, tire-gripping sections inserted between the felly and tire andhaving apertures therein, and clamps secured to the felly and projectingthrough the apertures for securing the gripping-sections inplace.

1. ln a vehicle-wheel, the combination With afelly, atire encircling thefelly, and provided with annular ribs, gripping-sections inserted fromopposite sides between the tire and felly and formed with annulargrooves and apertures, the grooves receiving the ribs of the tire, andclamps Secured to the felly and projecting through the apertures andinterlocked with the gripping-sections.

5. In a vehicle-wheel, the combination with a felly and a hollow tiresplit circumf'erentially through its inner side, of opposed annulargripping-sections inserted from .opposite sides between the felly andtire to draw the meeting edges of the tire together, eachgrippingsection having series of apertures therethrough, and opposedclamps Secured to the felly and projecting through said apertures andhaving their outer ends projecting laterally from the apertures..

6. In a vehicle-wheel, the combination with a felly, atire encirclingthe felly, and provided with recesses in its. inner face, opposedtiregripping sections between the felly and tire and provided withapertures registered with the recesses in the tire, and clamps Securedto the fell y and projecting through said apertures and into saidrecesses to lock the grippingsections to the felly and to hold the tirefrom circumferential movement relative to the felly.

7. In a vehicle-wheel, the combination with a felly and a hollow tiresplit circumferentially through its inner side, and provided withrecesses in its inner face, tire-gripping sections inserted fromopposite sides between the felly and tire and meeting in a planesubstantially coincident with the split in the tire, each section havingan aperture registered with a recess in the tire, and clamps secured tothe felly and projecting through the apertures into the recesses.

8. In a Vehicle-wheel, the combination with a felly, a metal bandencircling the felly, an-

IOO

lIO

nulzn' tire-gripping sections 'estng on the pesame inwardly and towardeach other as the I rphe'y of the band, each section hevng a seclampsare tghtened.

res of apertures, a hollow tire split circum- In witness whereofwehavehereunto set our 'e'entially through its inner side and providedhands this 2d day of March, 1904.

5 With recesses in its nne' face, and clamps se- HARRY WATKINS.

- cured to the felly, and projeeting through the WILLIAM A. MENGE.

ape'tures into the reeesses, the outer ends of Witnesses: V the elampsbeing offset laterally and beveled GEO. H. STEVENER,

to engage the g'ippngsections and draw the CHAS. F. MENGE.

